In good company: Celebrating 50 years of American Nurses Foundation Research Scholars

The 50th Anniversary of the ANF Research Grants Program calls for a retrospective look at its product: the American Nurses Foundation Scholars. The successful research trajectories of this cadre of grant recipients reflect the “good company” benchmark provided by well-regarded funding sources that reach beyond mere funding. This historical account celebrates over 900 nurse scholars who received ANF Research Grants from 1955-2005 with exemplars from each decade. This paper demonstrates the value of funding the essential first steps of promising beginning investigators. Data was reviewed from ANF and ANA reports, newsletters, and journals; NIH database Computer Retrieval of Information on Scientific Projects (CRISP); University Internet Web sites, and personal accounts from ANF Scholars. ANF is reassured of its investment in nurse scholars by the extraordinary progress in nursing science produced by its awardees. Historical evidence is clear that this half-century of research grants were not just funding studies; they were launching programs of research. The ANF Research Grant Program provides a model for funding policy to nurture and support the initial work of emerging scholars.